Path to NCAA women's volleyball Final Four goes through Stanford

STANFORD — Merete Lutz is not ready to say goodbye, not by a long shot. Or is she?

The fifth-year senior on the Stanford women’s volleyball team will bid adieu to Maples Pavilion after this weekend’s NCAA Regional, her time on The Farm nearly over.

"You think about it a lot as a senior — I mean, there’s a whole night dedicated to it," said Lutz, referring to the regular-season finale two weeks ago, when she was the only player honored on senior night. "I know it’s not going to be the last time ever seeing Maples, but still it’s crazy to think that it’s all winding down. But after five years I’ve probably had enough time."

The 23-year-old already earned her degree in human biology, with a concentration of environmental change and the ecology of infectious disease.

Lutz witnessed teammate Inky Ajanaku go through the process last year, after she missed a year rehabbing a knee injury.

"At that point, I think you’re kind of ready to move on," Lutz said. "Being a fifth year is kind of strange. Your class, your friends outside of the team, have already kind of moved on and you’re still at Stanford doing your masters program or whatever. So I think she was really ready to leave and I’m starting to feel like it’s time for the next step. But, still, it will be a hard goodbye. I’m a little more emotional than her, so you might see a little more tears."

There’s still unfinished business, though.

The third-seeded Cardinal (28-3) finds itself four wins shy of defending its NCAA title after ending a 12-year drought.

"People come to Stanford because they want to win the national championship and that hadn’t happened in so long for the program," Lutz said.

Stanford is in her blood.

It’s the alma mater of both her parents and older brother. But her path to Palo Alto had many stops — born in Dallas, then moved in succession to Manhattan Beach, Anchorage, Alaska, London and Azerbaijan before returning to Texas to live in Houston.

"When you’re a kid living overseas and you’re moving around all the time you probably don’t like it as much because you don’t have a consistent group of friends," Lutz said. "But I do think it’s shaped my academic interests, the fact that I’m interested in global public health and infectious disease overseas. It just really opens up your view of the world and makes you think about other things and makes you excited to learn about different people and different cultures."

The daughter of 6-foot-4 parents, she began playing volleyball in seventh grade. Before entering high school, Lutz grew to 6 feet tall and gave up basketball, part of the reason she’s never attempted to dunk.

"When you get asked if you play basketball multiple times on a day, you just kind of get sick of it and don’t really care about it," she said.

Four years ago, Lutz arrived on campus as a 6-8 middle blocker — the tallest player on the roster as true freshman, same as today.

She spent the next 12 months a spectator before making her debut in 2014.

"I loved being a redshirt," Lutz said. "To kind of get one whole year where you know there is zero chance that you’re going to get to play, you just have a lot of time to learn, to lift extra weights, to really be able to make mistakes and not necessarily impact the rest of the team."

Once inserted into the rotation, she immediately turned into an integral part of two Final Four teams. Lutz currently ranks top 10 all-time at Stanford in hitting percentage and blocks.

But her role shifted over time, with a move to opposite last season, when she became a third-team AVCA All-American.

"If you’re tall, you just got shoved in the middle," said Lutz, referring to the prehistoric way of thinking in volleyball. "Now it’s kind of cool to look around the country and see that some of the tallest people are on the pins. I mean, I’m so glad that I did my nine years of playing middle, but I think I’m better suited for the right side. It’s just more fun."

Overseeing the continued progress for Lutz, who plans to play overseas — "I’ve been in the U.S. for quite a few years now," she said, "so I’m excited to get back out in the world" — is a new coaching staff after John Dunning opted to retire at the end of last season.

First-year head coach Kevin Hambly, plucked out of Illinois, wasn’t afraid to increase Lutz’s responsibilities, at times allowing her to take a stab at playing defense on the back row.

"She has aspirations of playing beyond and there was a rotation where we could use some extra attacking, so it made sense to throw her out there and she’s done a nice job," Hambly said. "She continues to grow and it’s cool to see a kid that’s her fifth year and wanting to continue to get better."

It would’ve been easy for Hambly to keep the status quo, with the majority of the starting lineup intact from last year.

That certainly hasn’t been the case during a dominant run to the Pac-12 crown.

"The pressure at Stanford is always going to be there to win," Hambly said. "But I think trying to replicate what you did in the past, even if it’s the same group of players, it’s impossible, first of, but also I think it’s dangerous. I think you have to reinvent the group every year, the dynamic always changes. You’re always evolving and growing."

Nobody grew faster than the core of sophomores, which includes:

• 6-6 outside hitter Kathryn Plummer, the Pac-12 player of the year;

• 6-1 Jenna Gray, the Pac-12 setter of the year;

• 5-9 Morgan Hentz, the Pac-12 libero of the year.

And lest not forget 6-6 middle blocker Audriana Fitzmorris.

"They’ve always been extremely mature on the court — questionable off the court," Lutz joked. "They’re just amazing players and I’m so excited that I got to play with them for two years. Definitely when they step on the court they’re ready to battle, they’re ready to fight, and they also just have this great expectation now to win national championships."

For Lutz, that term is singular. She’s only got one more shot at the trophy and intends to do everything within her power to make it happen.

As if the stakes aren’t high enough at the NCAA Regional, flashbacks appear inevitable.

A possible rematch of last year’s championship match against No. 6 seed Texas (26-2) could materialize on Saturday, but first Stanford must get past unseeded Wisconsin (22-9) on Friday night.

That’s the same Wisconsin team that Stanford upset by a erasing a two-set deficit in last year’s Elite 8.

"I think the confidence that we felt going into those last couple of matches after beating Wisconsin was just unparalleled." Lutz said. "That match was one of the best sports moments. It will definitely stick in my mind as one of the best volleyball moments in my career, and hopefully we’ll do it all again this year."